Open-ended Questions
for Advanced Placement
English Literature and Composition, 1970-2016

1970.
Choose a character from a novel or play of recognized literary
merit and write an essay in which you (a) briefly describe the
standards of the fictional society in which the character exists
and (b) show how the character is affected by and responds to
those standards. In your essay do not merely summarize the plot.

1970 Also. Choose a work of recognized literary merit in which
a specific inanimate object (e.g., a seashell, a handkerchief,
a painting) is important, and write an essay in which you show
how two or three of the purposes the object serves are related
to one another.

1971.
The significance of a title such as The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn is so easy to discover. However, in other works (for
example, Measure for Measure) the full significance of
the title becomes apparent to the reader only gradually. Choose
two works and show how the significance of their respective titles
is developed through the authors’ use of devices such as contrast,
repetition, allusion, and point of view.

1972.
In retrospect, the reader often discovers that the first chapter
of a novel or the opening scene of a drama introduces some of
the major themes of the work. Write an essay about the opening
scene of a drama or the first chapter of a novel in which you
explain how it functions in this way.

1973.
An effective literary work does not merely stop or cease; it
concludes. In the view of some critics, a work that does not
provide the pleasure of significant closure has terminated with
an artistic fault. A satisfactory ending is not, however, always
conclusive in every sense; significant closure may require the
reader to abide with or adjust to ambiguity and uncertainty.
In an essay, discuss the ending of a novel or play of acknowledged
literary merit. Explain precisely how and why the ending appropriately
or inappropriately concludes the work. Do not merely summarize
the plot.

1974.
Choose a work of literature written before 1900. Write an essay
in which you present arguments for and against the work’s relevance
for a person in 1974. Your own position should emerge in the
course of your essay. You may refer to works of literature written
after 1900 for the purpose of contrast or comparison.

1975.
Although literary critics have tended to praise the unique in
literary characterizations, many authors have employed the stereotyped
character successfully. Select one work of acknowledged literary
merit and in a well-written essay, show how the conventional
or stereotyped character or characters function to achieve the
author’s purpose.

1975 Also.Unlike the novelist, the
writer of a play does not use his own voice and only rarely uses
a narrator’s voice to guide the audience’s responses to character
and action. Select a play you have read and write an essay in
which you explain the techniques the playwright uses to guide
his audience’s responses to the central characters and the action.
You might consider the effect on the audience of things like
setting, the use of comparable and contrasting characters, and
the characters’ responses to each other. Support your argument
with specific references to the play. Do not give a plot summary.

1976.
The conflict created when the will of an individual opposes the
will of the majority is the recurring theme of many novels, plays,
and essays. Select the work of an essayist who is in opposition
to his or her society; or from a work of recognized literary
merit, select a fictional character who is in opposition to his
or her society. In a critical essay, analyze the conflict and
discuss the moral and ethical implications for both the individual
and the society. Do not summarize the plot or action of the work
you choose.

1977.
In some novels and plays certain parallel or recurring events
prove to be significant. In an essay, describe the major similarities
and differences in a sequence of parallel or recurring events
in a novel or play and discuss the significance of such events.
Do not merely summarize the plot.

1978.
Choose an implausible or strikingly unrealistic incident or character
in a work of fiction or drama of recognized literary merit. Write
an essay that explains how the incident or character is related
to the more realistic of plausible elements in the rest of the
work. Avoid plot summary.

1979.
Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play
of recognized literary merit who might on the basis of the character’s
actions alone be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized
essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the
character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than
we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.

1980.
A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a
passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a
love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong,
or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty.
Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands
of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities.
In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict,
its effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.

1981.
The meaning of some literary works is often enhanced by sustained
allusion to myths, the Bible, or other works of literature. Select
a literary work that makes use of such a sustained reference.
Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain the allusion
that predominates in the work and analyze how it enhances the
work’s meaning.

1982.
In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own
sake. Choose a work of literary merit that confronts the reader
or audience with a scene or scenes of violence. In a well-organized
essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute to the meaning
of the complete work. Avoid plot summary.

1983.
From a novel or play of literary merit, select an important character
who is a villain. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze the
nature of the character’s villainy and show how it enhances meaning
in the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.

1984.
Select a line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel,
epic poem, or play that you find especially memorable. Write
an essay in which you identify the line or the passage, explain
its relationship to the work in which it is found, and analyze
the reasons for its effectiveness.

1985.
A critic has said that one important measure of a superior work
of literature is its ability to produce in the reader a healthy
confusion of pleasure and disquietude. Select a literary work
that produces this “healthy confusion.” Write an essay
in which you explain the sources of the “pleasure and disquietude”
experienced by the readers of the work.

1986.
Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct
way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or
time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic,
or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author’s
manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the
work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

1987.
Some novels and plays seem to advocate changes in social or political
attitudes or in traditions. Choose such a novel or play and note
briefly the particular attitudes or traditions that the author
apparently wishes to modify. Then analyze the techniques the
author uses to influence the reader’s or audience’s views. Avoid
plot summary.

1988.
Choose a distinguished novel or play in which some of the most
significant events are mental or psychological; for example,
awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness. In a well-organized
essay, describe how the author manages to give these internal
events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually
associated with external action. Do not merely summarize the
plot.

1989.
In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery O’Connor
has written, “I am interested in making a good case for
distortion because I am coming to believe that it is the only
way to make people see.” Write an essay in which you “make
a good case for distortion”" as distinct from literary realism.
Analyze how important elements of the work you choose are “distorted” and explain how these distortions contribute to the effectiveness
of the work. Avoid plot summary.

1990.
Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent
(or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay
in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain
how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid
plot summary.

1991.
Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two
countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and the
sea) to represent opposed forces or ideas that are central to
the meaning of the work. Choose a novel or play that contrasts
two such places. Write an essay explaining how the places differ,
what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes
to the meaning of the work.

1992.
In a novel or play, a confidant (male) or a confidante (female)
is a character, often a friend or relative of the hero or heroine,
whose role is to be present when the hero or heroine needs a
sympathetic listener to confide in. Frequently the result is,
as Henry James remarked, that the confidant or confidante can
be as much “the reader’s friend as the protagonist’s.” However, the author sometimes uses this character for other purposes
as well. Choose a confidant or confidante from a novel or play
of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you
discuss the various ways this character functions in the work.
You may write your essay on one of the following novels or plays
or on another of comparable quality. Do not write on a poem or
short story.

1993.
“The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful
laughter.” Choose a novel, play, or long poem in which a
scene or character awakens “thoughtful laughter” in
the reader. Write an essay in which you show why this laughter
is “thoughtful” and how it contributes to the meaning
of the work.

1994.
In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly,
or does not appear at all, is a significant presence. Choose
a novel or play of literary merit and write an essay in which
you show how such a character functions in the work. You may
wish to discuss how the character affects action, theme, or the
development of other characters. Avoid plot summary.

1995.
Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society
by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society
because of gender, race, class, or creed. Choose a novel or a
play in which such a character plays a significant role and show
how that character’s alienation reveals the surrounding society’s
assumptions or moral values.

1996.
The British novelist Fay Weldon offers this observation about
happy endings. “The writers, I do believe, who get the best
and most lasting response from their readers are the writers
who offer a happy ending through moral development. By a happy
ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events -- a marriage or
a last minute rescue from death -- but some kind of spiritual
reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even
at death.” Choose a novel or play that has the kind of ending
Weldon describes. In a well-written essay, identify the “spiritual
reassessment or moral reconciliation” evident in the ending
and explain its significance in the work as a whole.

1997.
Novels and plays often include scenes of weddings, funerals,
parties, and other social occasions. Such scenes may reveal the
values of the characters and the society in which they live.
Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in a focused
essay, discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning
of the work as a whole. You may choose a work from the list below
or another novel or play of literary merit.

1998.
In his essay “Walking,” Henry David Thoreau offers
the following assessment of literature:

In literature it is only the wild that attracts
us. Dullness is but another name for tameness. It is the uncivilized
free and wild thinking in Hamlet and The Iliad,
in all scriptures and mythologies, not learned in schools, that
delights us.

From the works that you have studied in school,
choose a novel, play, or epic poem that you may initially have
thought was conventional and tame but that you now value for
its “uncivilized free and wild thinking.” Write an
essay in which you explain what constitutes its “uncivilized
free and wild thinking” and how that thinking is central
to the value of the work as a whole. Support your ideas with
specific references to the work you choose.

1999.
The eighteenth-century British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote,
“No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing
thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects
of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction
at the same time.”

From a novel or play choose a character (not
necessarily the protagonist) whose mind is pulled in conflicting
directions by two compelling desires, ambitions, obligations,
or influences. Then, in a well-organized essay, identify each
of the two conflicting forces and explain how this conflict with
one character illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole.
You may use one of the novels or plays listed below or another
novel or work of similar literary quality.

2000.
Many works of literature not readily identified with the mystery
or detective story genre nonetheless involve the investigation
of a mystery. In these works, the solution to the mystery may
be less important than the knowledge gained in the process of
its investigation. Choose a novel or play in which one or more
of the characters confront a mystery. Then write an essay in
which you identify the mystery and explain how the investigation
illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely
summarize the plot.

2001.
One definition of madness is “mental delusion or the eccentric
behavior arising from it.” But Emily Dickinson wrote

Much madness is divinest Sense-
To a discerning Eye-

Novelists and playwrights have often seen
madness with a “discerning Eye.” Select a novel or
play in which a character’s apparent madness or irrational behavior
plays an important role. Then write a well-organized essay in
which you explain what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists
of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance
of the “madness” to the work as a whole. Do not merely
summarize the plot.

2002.
Morally ambiguous characters -- characters whose behavior discourages
readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good --
are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel
or play in which a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal
role. Then write an essay in which you explain how the character
can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity
is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

2002, Form B. Often in literature, a character’s success in achieving
goals depends on keeping a secret and divulging it only at the
right moment, if at all. Choose a novel or play of literary merit
that requires a character to keep a secret. In a well-organized
essay, briefly explain the necessity for secrecy and how the
character’s choice to reveal or keep the secret affects the plot
and contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.You may select a work from the list below, or
you may choose another work of recognized literary merit suitable
to the topic. Do NOT write about a short story, poem, or film.

2003.
According to critic Northrop Frye, “Tragic heroes are so
much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem
the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees
more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass.
Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of
the divisive lightning.” Select a novel or play in which
a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of
others. Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering
brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic
vision of the work as a whole.

2003, Form B. Novels and plays often depict characters caught between
colliding cultures -- national, regional, ethnic, religious,
institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of
identity into question. Select a novel or play in which a character
responds to such a cultural collison. Then write a well-organized
essay in which you describe the character’s response and explain
its relevance to the work as a whole.

2004.Critic Roland
Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the
answer.” Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question
the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain
how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding
of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

2004, Form B. The most important themes in literature are sometimes
developed in scenes in which a death or deaths take place. Choose
a novel or play and write a well-organized essay in which you
show how a specific death scene helps to illuminate the meaning
of the work as a whole. Avoid
mere plot summary.

2005.In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening
(1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess “That
outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions.” In a novel or play that you have studied, identify a character
who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then write
an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward
conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning
of the work. Avoid mere plot summary.

2005, Form B. One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire
for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character
in a novel or a drama struggles to free himself or herself from
the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure
to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle
to enhance the meaning of the work.

2006. Many writers use a country setting to establish values
within a work of literature. For example, the country may be
a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance.
Choose a novel or play in which such a setting plays a significant
role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the country
setting functions in the work as a whole.

2006, Form B. In many works of literature, a physical journey -
the literal movement from one place to another - plays a central
role. Choose a novel, play, or epic poem in which a physical
journey is an important element and discuss how the journey adds
to the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

2007. In many works of literature, past events can affect,
positively or negatively, the present activities, attitudes,
or values of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character
must contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or
societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the character’s
relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the work
as a whole.

2007, Form B. Works of literature often depict acts of betrayal.
Friends and even family may betray a protagonist; main characters
may likewise be guilty of treachery or may betray their own values.
Select a novel or play that includes such acts of betrayal. Then,
in a well-written essay, analyze the nature of the betrayal and
show how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

2008.
In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil,
possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the
distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character.
For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might
be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main
character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor character
serves as a foil for the main character. Then write an essay
in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character
and the major character illuminates the meaning of the work.

2008, Form B. In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence
are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder;
in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and
terror. Focusing on a single novel or play, explain how its representation
of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as
a whole.

2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

2009, Form B. Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political oe social issue. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore this issue and explain how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

2010. Palestinian American literary theorist and cultural critic Edward Said has written that “Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted.” Yet Said has also said that exile can become “a potent, even enriching” experience. Select a novel, play, or epic in which a character experiences such a rift and becomes cut off from “home,” whether that home is the character’s birthplace, family, homeland, or other special place. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the character’s experience with exile is both alienating and enriching, and how this experience illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

2010, Form B.“You can leave home all you want but home will never leave you.” -- Sonsyrea Tate

Sonsyrea Tate’s statement suggests that “home” may be conceived of as a dwelling, a place, or a state of mind. It may have positive or negative associations, but in either case, it may have a considerable influence on an individual. Choose a novel or play in which a central character leaves home, yet finds that home remains significant. Write a well-developed essay in which you analyze the importance of “home” to this character and the reasons for its continuing influence. Explain how the character’s idea of home illuminates the larger meaning of the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.

2011. In a novel by William Styron, a father tells his son that life “is a search for justice.”

Choose a character from a novel or play who responds in some significant way to justice or injustice. Then write a well-developed essay in which you analyze the character’s understanding of justice, the degree to which the character’s search for justice is successful , and the significance of this search for the work as a whole.

2011, Form B.In The Writing of Fiction (1925), novelist Edith Wharton states the following:

At every stage in the progress of his tale the novelist must rely on what may be called the illuminating incident to reveal and emphasize the inner meaning of each situation. Illuminating incidents are the magic casements of fiction, its vistas on infinity.

Choose a novel or play that you have studied and write a well-organized essay in which you describe an “illuminating” episode or moment and explain how it functions as a “casement,” a window that opens onto the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Choose a novel or play in which cultural, physical, or geographical surroundings shape psychological or moral traits in a character. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how surroundings affect this character and illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

2013. A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, recounts the psychological or moral development of its protagonist from youth to maturity, when this character recognizes his or her place in the world. Select a single pivotal moment in the psychological or moral development of the protagonist of a bildungsroman. Then write a well-organized essay that analyzes how that single moment shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.

2014. It has often been said that what we value can be determined by what we sacrifice. Consider how this statement applies to a character from a novel or play. Select a character that has deliberately sacrificed, surrendered, or forfeited something in a way that highlights that character’s values. then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how the particular sacrifice illuminates the character’s values and provides a deepr iunderstanding of the meaning of the work as a whole.

2015. In literary works, cruelty often functions as a crucial motivation or a major soical or political factor. Select a novel, play, or epic poem in which acts of cruelty are important to the theme. Then write a well-developed essay analyzing how cruelty functions in the work as a whole and what the cruelty reveals about the perpetrator and/or victim.

2016. Many works of literature contain a character who intentionally deceives others. The character’s dishonesty may be intended either to help or to hurt. Such a character, for example, may choose to mislead others for personal safety, to spare someone’s feelings, or to carry out a crime

Choose a novel or play in which a character deceives others. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze the motives for that character’s deception and how that deception contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.